


Libraries are the Best Places for Discoveries

by RhinoMouse



Series: Femslash February 2017 [1]
Category: Tomb Raider (Video Game)
Genre: F/F, Soulmate-Identifying Timers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 19:52:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,090
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9563888
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RhinoMouse/pseuds/RhinoMouse
Summary: Sam was stuck in the library and her timer was just about to go off. She couldn't possibly be doomed to have an academic as a soulmate!





	

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys! So for the month we're doing a oneshot from a fandom we love, but don't really write for, every week! Sorry for the wait on some of our other stories we've been trying to get this stuff ready to go. And wow it's hard to switch fandoms when writing...Anyways hope you guys enjoy them.

Sam looked down at her wrist. The counter was getting closer and closer to zero, she was down to twenty minutes. She needed to get as far away from here as possible. There was no way her soulmate was a stuffy academic. She actually liked fun and sitting here filming an anthropology professor talk about social structures was going to put her to sleep. She needed to get out of this dusty old library so that she could meet her soulmate that she was going to be meeting in eighteen minutes now. Wow this man could talk. He was even making her stress sleepy. His many wrinkles quivered as he laughed at a joke he had just made that was incomprehensible to her. 

The Cambridge ancient history section of the library was not where she was going to meet her soulmate. There were so many possibilities of who she could be meeting. What with being bi they could be any gender. She was hopeful for someone around her age. Wasn’t it last week she heard the story of a guy’s counter running out in sync with a toddler’s? God, she hoped that didn’t happen to her. Oh gosh, her parents would be so excited that she’d have to stop sleeping around now. Maybe, if she was lucky, her soulmate would be into open relationships. Just to see the look on her parents’ faces. Hopefully, it would be someone her parents would totally not approve of.

God, wrinkles was still talking. Still, if she wanted to be assigned more interesting subjects by her studio she needed to suck it up and somehow make this interesting in editing. It was basically hopeless. Three years with the History channel and she still got the crap jobs. So much for her dreams of documentaries of discoveries and adventure. Finally, she found herself calling cut. She had never rushed through shaking hands with someone and heading out so quickly before in her life. She had two minutes to get out of the library and meet her soulmate. Maybe they worked at the coffee shop? There was no way an academic here was her soulmate, it just wasn’t possible.

Between checking her counter on her wrist and trying to fasten the last catches on her camera bag, Sam wasn’t really paying attention to what was going on around her. So, it shouldn’t have surprised her to run into a walking pile of books. As she crashed to the ground, books thumping down around her as she landed on her ass, she realized her timer had just hit five seconds.

Grabbing some of the books closest to her, she handed them over to the person she had just knocked over. “I’m so sorry, are you alright? I wasn’t looking where I was going because...oh...” Sam found herself looking into the light brown eyes of a fairly surprised looking student. Her breath had petered out as she realized that this was her soulmate, she could feel it as she looked at her. Suddenly, having an academic type for a soulmate wasn’t something she minded at all. She was hot with slightly mussed up brown hair pulled back into a loose pony tail and an adorable scar across her nose. She was wearing a green jacket with a tank top underneath. Actually, on second look, the scar on her nose wasn’t the only one. There were two visible ones on her chest and what looked like another one on her left eyebrow. Wow, did she have cleavage.

“Ah... um... thanks.” The now clearly British girl accepted the books. She flushed as she glanced down at her counter and then at Sam’s wrist. She moved her wrist towards Sam’s slowly till both their counters lit up a light blue before going back to normal. She flushed at that and didn’t seem to know what to do.

Sam felt herself melting at how adorable the girl in front of her seemed to be. Smiling, she offered her hand to the girl in front of her. “Hi, I’m Sam.”

A slightly calloused hand gripped hers and tentatively shook her hand. “Lara.”

Oh, she was going to love that voice, damn the accent was to die for. “So, do you need a hand with these books?” Seriously, that was all she could come up with, wasn’t she supposed to better at flirting than this. Her self-berating ended when Lara smiled at her before nodding. Picking up the books, Sam noticed they all seemed old and Greek. So, she was definitely an academic. Still, maybe those scars pointed to an exciting hobby? “Greek history project?”

Lara laughed quietly and nodded. Sam resolved to hear that sound as often as possible. She took back any hopes of her soulmate being okay with an open relationship. She wanted to be the only one to ravish the gorgeous girl in front of her. Lara smiled slightly and held her hand out as she stood up from the ground. Sam grinned before letting her pull her up to her feet. Well, she was definitely stronger than she had thought.

Her thoughts were broken by Wrinkles grabbing her shoulder. “Ms. Nishimura, I’m glad I caught you, you left your notebook.” He smiled happily at her, holding out a notebook.

It was actually quite nice of him. She took the offered notebook. “Thanks Professor Jones, I was in a bit of rush.”

“Ah, well I see you caught our Dr. Croft here so it wasn’t for nothing.” He smiled genially at Lara as he spoke. “Dr. Croft you really should reconsider giving that guest lecture to my students. They would love to hear from you.”

“Dr. Croft?” Sam felt like she was going to get whiplash from how fast her head snapped to Lara at Wrinkles’ words. There was no way that could mean what she thought it meant. Lara could not be old enough to be the Lara Croft, could she? Lara Croft the discoverer of Yamatai and one of only four survivors from the S.S. Endurance. The illusive Dr. Croft who had refused to be interviewed at all about the events on the island. That just wasn’t possible. The History Channel had been trying to get an interview with her for the last two years and had been turned down every time. It was a joke in the coffee room that the person who got an interview with Croft would be promoted straight to CEO. That Lara Croft couldn’t be her soulmate, more over that Lara Croft couldn’t look like she was in her twenties and have an adorable loose pony tail and a blush like a high schooler. Actually, her face had turned an adorable pink as she flushed and looked a bit trapped by Wrinkles.

“Oh, you didn’t know? I find that hard to believe. I know how much you History Channel people have been trying to get an interview with her.” He slapped Sam on the shoulder.

“No, I just ran into her.” She looked at Lara, who was beginning to look like she wanted to escape from this situation. “You’re the Dr. Croft who discovered Yamatai?”

She was fiddling with the cover of one of her many books. “Yes, that would be me.” A somewhat fake smile seemed to plaster itself on her face.

“Oh, you don’t have to be so modest Dr. Croft. However, I really should be heading out. It was wonderful to help with your documentary Ms. Nishimura.” Smiling, he left the two of them in an awkward atmosphere.

“I’m sorry, I really should check these books out and get going.” Lara seemed to be attempting to run away politely.

Sam felt sick. She had evidently screwed something up already. Maybe she didn’t want to talk about Yamatai? After all, that had to be what almost everyone wanted to talk to her about when they met her. Seeing that fake smile was horrible after seeing the real thing, even if it had been a small one. “Do you want to get a drink? I have to help you get this mountain of books somewhere anyways, don’t I?” She smiled as she touched Lara’s elbow to halt her sideways movement.

Lara seemed surprised by the offer. She could see her considering it.

“You look like you could use a chance to kick back for a bit, and I just met you.” Sam added a pout at the end in hopes Lara was weak to it. Apparently, she was because her shoulders relaxed and that small smile returned.

“Alright, you’re probably right. I don’t think I’ve left the library in a day or two. Do you have a place in mind?” She stood there as Sam grinned and grabbed half the stack of books she was carrying. 

“As a matter of fact, I do.” Happily, she followed her newly discovered soulmate towards the counter. “You are joking about being in here for days, right?”

____________________________________________________________________________

Lara had not been expecting this. To be honest, after Yamatai she had forgotten about her counter. When she was younger, she had pictured what type of person would be her soulmate. As she drank from her beer waiting for Sam to return from the restroom, she considered how different she was from what she had expected. First, she was well, a her. Next, she was a bubbly outgoing member of the media. None of these were traits she was expecting. If she hadn’t of walked into her she probably wouldn’t have even noticed the counter had hit zero. Honestly, a part of her had known it was today. Still, she wasn’t back to well, being civilized yet and the thought of being with anyone after the horrors she’d been through was incomprehensible. Roth would probably call her tonight. She knew him well enough to know he would remember it was today even if she didn’t. Guilt bubbled in her throat at the thought of her father figure, he’d never walk again thanks to an ax in the back. If she had been any slower in pulling him back after he’d flipped them, he would have died. It had all been completely wrong.

Looking up as Sam walked towards her, she felt everything lighten and something in her stomach did a flip. She was beautiful. There was no way the person in front of her could possibly be her soulmate. It had to be a mistake, but it wasn’t. When they had first crashed and she had caught the other girl’s eyes, she had felt like she had been hit with a sledgehammer. The feeling had been so unexpected, her usual reaction to being surprised by another person had failed to rear its ugly head. Instead, she had found herself frozen and completely unable to comprehend the sensation that was occurring. Then, she had noticed how the other girl’s eyes had widened in surprise and understanding. It had dawned on her then, that it wasn’t just her feeling this. If it wasn’t just her than that meant... A glance at her wrist to see the zeros was all she needed, but she had glanced at the matching zeros on the other girl’s wrist anyway. She hadn’t stopped there. She had reached out till the soft blue light confirmed what she already knew. The Asian girl sitting on the ground surrounded by fallen books was her soulmate.

The evening was relaxed. Sam had dragged her to the nearest pub and informed her that normally it would have been a club but then she wouldn’t have been able to get to know her. Lara was just so happy Sam found herself at ease in her presence. She learned that Sam had a degree in film and was hoping to get slotted on a major documentary soon. Right now, she was just shooting interviews with different academics to help fill up some time slots. She found herself telling Sam about how she was researching different lost islands looking for common themes between the mythos surrounding them. It was fun, Sam even listened to her go on about the similarities and major differences in accounts surrounding the disappearance of Atlantis. Sam seemed interested and smiled while listening to her. Lara learned more about how to light an interview than she had ever even know existed in such an enterprise.

By the third beer, Lara found herself in a discussion comparing different boarding schools and finding that she was grateful hers hadn’t had nuns. She was also grateful that she hadn’t been as driven towards rule breaking as Sam evidently was. There was something honest and bright about Sam that made Lara trust her.

By the time the pub was closing, Lara found she didn’t want Sam to go, so she had been impulsive and followed her instincts. “Do you want to come over?” Panic hit as soon as the words finished leaving her mouth. “I mean... well it’s nice talking to you and... I’m sorry, I don’t really know what I’m doing.” She shrugged her shoulder helplessly before hanging her head in defeat. Before she could get upset at her mistake though, her thoughts were interrupted by a giggle. It was a heart-warming giggle if she was honest. Focusing on Sam’s face, she saw that she was smiling at her.

“I’d like that, and I’m not exactly sure how this whole soul mate thing is supposed to work either.” The kindness in the smile and warm expression directed at her made Lara melt a bit.

The relatively short walk to her flat was pleasant. When she felt Sam’s hand brush against hers though, she had felt all her hairs stand on end. The feeling of Sam’s hand slipping into hers had made her heart thump through her whole body. Still, she managed to lace their fingers together and enjoyed how they fit together. She hadn’t released her hand when she got to the door of her flat and had been slightly apprehensive about pulling Sam in as she remembered she couldn’t remember the last time she cleaned.

The flat was, well, a University student flat. She had gotten it back when she was in school and had kept it ever since. It was small and obviously for one person. It had a kitchen that was open to the living area. Then, there was a bathroom and a single bedroom that were off the short hallway. It was cheap with single paned windows, water pipes that had to be fiddled with a few times a year, unreliable heating, and generally an air of affordability over comfort. There were books on almost every surface. Maps with markers on them were on the walls. One wall was entirely devoted to a particular tomb on Yamatai and all the relics they’d found in it. There was a sweatshirt thrown over the back of the couch and of course her garbage was full and empty cup noodle containers that were peeking out just enough to show. At least she knew her bed was made, but considering that wasn’t the room they were in that didn’t help much.

“It's not much, but it's cozy.” She shuffled, waiting for a verdict from Sam.

Sam’s head turned as she seemed to take in the flat. “Well, you don’t have a future in home decorating, but it's very you.” Their hands had separated while Lara had turned the lights on and Sam touched her arm gently. “Please say the kitchen isn’t just for show and you can cook?”

“I can make toast, cook on a campfire, and sometimes follow a recipe on things.” Lara wondered if she had just disappointed Sam terribly with that.

Sam just laughed fairly loudly and openly. “Well, I’m afraid we are rather stuck then because I’m pretty sure I can burn water.”

It seemed Sam always knew what to say to make her worries disappear. Although, she made a mental note not to ever leave Sam unsupervised in the kitchen. While Sam started going through her limited collection of DVDs, Lara was brought up short. She had just assumed Sam was really going to stick around in her life. A part of her really hoped she did, but the rest of her knew if Sam had any sense, she would take off for the hills as soon as she realized how damaged she really was. She wasn’t capable of being anyone’s other half and she knew it. Sam had been so kind and she just made Lara feel so content she had forgotten for a few hours how incapable of a relationship with anyone she really was. It couldn’t make it worse to watch a movie with her though. Maybe they could try and be friends or something. She knew that wasn’t how the soulmate thing worked, but it wouldn’t be safe for someone to be closer to her than that. Breathing in, she resolved herself to the correct path and joined Sam on the couch.

Three films later and Lara had learned that Sam was a terrible audience member. She critiqued every aspect of the film throughout the entire thing. It was horribly endearing and Lara couldn’t even remember the last time she smiled so much. Halfway through the third movie, she had actually been concerned when Sam went ten minutes without making a remark of some kind. A quick check had reassured her that Sam had just fallen asleep on her shoulder. Carefully, so as not to wake her, she had laid Sam down on the couch and grabbed a blanket to tuck her in with from the back of the couch. She would have moved her to the bed but she wasn’t sure if that would wake her or not. Lara let her fingers gently push some of Sam’s hair out of her face before heading to bed herself. She hadn’t felt this calm since before Yamatai. It was odd but in a pleasant way. 

____________________________________________________________________________

Sam blinked wearily as she slowly woke. It didn’t take her long to realize she had fallen asleep on Lara’s couch. Looking about using the faint light coming through the window from the electric sign for a tattoo parlor, she noticed she’d been tucked into the couch. Smiling, she sat up, noticing the pillow that had been placed under her head. Lara had apparently tucked her under a blanket and given her a pillow. Lara really was something special. Running her hand through her hair, she yawned and looked at the time. The bright numbers on the microwave told her it was four AM. Glancing around, she wondered what had woken her up from her sleep. It all seemed pretty quiet. She was going to have to get Lara out of this apartment though. It was old and dilapidated, no soulmate of hers was going to live in a dilapidated apartment when she had a trust fund with several million just sitting around that she could use. Although, she had the feeling separating Lara from her shit apartment wasn’t going to happen for quite some time. Maybe they could get an apartment together in a few months. The couch was coming with though, damn that thing was comfortable. Rolling her shoulders back, she froze when she heard a whimper. Thoughts of possible living situations with the adorably bookish Lara fled.

Following the soft cries of distress, she found herself in the bedroom. She could tell something was wrong immediately. Lara was twisted up in her sheets and sweating heavily. Her face was contorted and she was clearly having a nightmare. Sam moved quickly to Lara’s side and glanced around wondering if she should wake her up from the dream. The decision was made for her when Lara called out for someone named Alex not to die. Reaching out, she grabbed Lara’s shoulder. “Hey sweetie, it's okay. It's just a nightmare. Come on sweetie, just wake up. It's okay.” She shook the shoulder she was holding onto gently.

That was when Lara’s eyes snapped open and her world turned upside down suddenly. Her back hit the mattress hard. There was a hand on her throat holding her down, knees were pinning her arms to her sides, and something cold and metal was pushed into the side of her head. Her eyes found Lara but her face was empty, eyes narrowed. It was almost imperceptible but she saw Lara freeze for a second while looking down at her. Recognition slowly dawned in her eyes and they widened in surprise and horror. Suddenly, Lara was off her and her back was hitting the wall.

Sam turned on her side coughing hard. One of her hands came up to her chest as she caught her breath after almost having her windpipe crushed. Reaching out with her other hand, she hit the bedside light illuminating the room. Sitting up, she saw Lara shaking hard with her back to the wall. On the floor between them was a gun, well that explained the cold and hard thing she’d felt against her head. Sam decided she had to be crazy at that moment because she knew she was going to do something really stupid. Getting up, she headed over towards Lara, very slowly. Finally, kneeling down next to her, she reached out tentatively towards the shaking woman in front of her. When her hand touched a shaking shoulder, Lara’s head turned up towards her.

“I’m so sorry, are you okay? I didn’t hurt you did I? Oh god, of course I did. I’m sorry, oh god.” Lara dropped off, choking on her own words, burying her face in her knees and pulling them closer to her.

Sam was at a loss. Something was evidently wrong and she needed to help Lara somehow. What did she know about Lara so far that would help her calm down? She now knew to never wake Lara up from a nightmare without a really long stick, but really what did she know about Lara that would get her to stop rocking and shaking. Books? could hitting someone with a book calm them down? Wait, Lara was British, British people liked tea, right? “I’ll be right back sweetie.” Sam stood up and moved into the kitchen and found a kettle on the stove. Filling it up and turning on the stove didn’t take long. Rummaging around looking for a clean mug and trying to find tea was another matter. Although, she did succeed in finding it before the kettle started whistling. Plunking a teabag in each mug, she poured the water in and hoped she hadn’t messed up tea making too badly. Walking back towards where she had left Lara, she could tell Lara was calming down a little. The shaking had almost stopped. Slowly and very carefully, she grabbed both of Lara’s hands. “Come on sweetie.” Pulling gently, she helped Lara up to her feet. Lara was completely docile, head bent, and followed her easily as she pulled her into the kitchen area and pushed her gently into a spindly old chair.

“Let’s hope I didn’t burn the water.” Sam smiled at her own joke as she placed the warm mug in front of Lara. Sitting down across from her, she leveled her gaze on the woman who appeared to have collapsed in on herself across from her. “So, is almost killing houseguests normal for you?”

Lara cringed slightly before looking up at her. She was obviously the more frightened of the pair, something Sam thought was slightly ironic. “No, I don’t do house guests so things like this don’t happen.” Sam watched Lara breath in before reaching out and grasping the mug in front of her. “I shouldn’t have invited you to my place. Or, I shouldn’t have gone to sleep while you were here. I’m so sorry. It won’t happen again.”

Sam bit her lip. “Well, I figure I should use a very long stick next time I wake you up from a nightmare.”

“Next time?” Lara looked at her like she’d never seen her before. “There can’t be a next time. I could kill you, I almost just did kill you!” 

“You didn’t kill me. I’m fine, a bit startled but really you stopped as soon as you realized it was me.” Sam sipped her tea. “Next time, I won’t shake you awake like that.”

“I could have killed you!” The pitch of Lara’s voice was going up as she tried desperately to make her point. 

“You didn’t though, you stopped.” Sam started to open her mouth to say something else. She needed to do something, Lara was getting worked up again. At this point, a calm Lara sounded like a good idea, especially if she was going to listen to the idea of putting the gun in her bedside table and not under her pillow or wherever it had been earlier. She was cut off though. 

“Ninety-six.” 

“What?”

“Ninety-six men.” 

“I don’t... what’s that mean?”

“It’s how many men I’ve killed.” Lara leaned back in her chair and looked up at the ceiling. The fear that had been radiating off of her settled and seemed to be looking at her with defeat instead. 

“Wha...” Does not compute was the closest description to Sam’s thoughts. It just didn’t make sense. There was no way bookish, English, adorable Lara could have done that. However, the look she had had right before she’d started to recognize her...

“What do you know about Yamatai?” Lara sighed.

“Um... Just what was in the news. Your ship wrecked on the lost island. Four of you survived and managed to escape. The Japanese government went in and secured the island. Now, it’s one of the largest archeological sites in the world. You’re the lead archeologist at the site. You and your staff have refused access to the area to the media. Some of the finds you’ve had have started showing up in the Japanese museums. It’s rumored to be the largest archeological find of our generation. Other than that, not much. Why? What does that...” 

“When we wrecked, we weren’t the only ones there.” Lara looked up at the ceiling. “There were other ships that had been wrecked there over the years. No one could get off the island. They had gotten desperate and began a cult worshiping Himiko. Within the first three days, they managed to round us all up and imprison us. One of the men took an... interest in me. One of the guys from the Endurance fought off one of the guards and started a mass escape attempt in order to help me. It all went to hell after that. There was shooting and people dying everywhere. By the end of the night, I’d killed several men.” Lara paused before meeting Sam’s wide eyes. “The two weeks that we spent on that island it was basically a war zone. Based off what the Japanese government can tell from tracking of our movements, over a hundred and thirty cultists were on that island when we wrecked. Over half the crew of the Endurance survived. By the end of those two weeks, there were four of us left and not a single cultist left alive. Reyes and Johna secured our escape boat and spent most of their time holding camp there after I broke them out of a prison cell. Roth took an axe to the back. He still is bound to a wheelchair. While trying to get a radio signal out and making runs for parts and trying to break captured crew members out of confinement, I personally killed ninety-six human beings.”

“But, why was it never reported?” Sam’s brain was scrambling to absorb everything she was being told. 

“Ownership. The rights to the island could have been contested if it got out that there were others on the island when we discovered it. Because of how our crew’s contracts were written, if we were the ones that discovered the island it would fall under Japanese sovereignty. However, if a country like Russia claimed that their men had been alive and on the island before us sovereignty could have been contested. So, the government ruled all deaths self-defense and classified the file.”

“Oh wow... why are you telling me this? Are you even allowed to tell me this?” 

“Because you deserve to know why I’m a complete mess. I turned into, something hard. Ever since then, it just won’t go away. I have difficulties with crowds. If people touch me unexpectedly or I hear loud noises I’m liable to panic and act defensively. I struggle letting people close. We were given permission to tell family because three out of the four of us have scars that would lead to unfortunate questions if our family members went looking for answers. Since our counters match you’re the closest thing to family I probably have.” 

Sam looked at Lara carefully. She wasn’t wearing the jacket she had been earlier, leaving her arms open. The scars she had noticed earlier had company. She could tell most of them were fading, but there was one where it looked like something had taken a chunk out of her bicep. The scar across her nose no longer seemed like just a cute scar that probably had a fun story behind it. The constant refusals for an interview also made sense. No one would believe this. Frowning, she realized just how abridged the version of the story she had just gotten was. She doubted Lara was going to tell her much more. Looking at the woman in front of her, she realized something. Lara was expecting her to leave. She should leave really, it was clear the person in front of her had truckloads of baggage. However, didn’t she have her own baggage. Really, the fucked up one was her. So, her soulmate was fucked up as well, but at least she had gotten fucked up being brave. She was fucked up just from being well her, with her privilege and abandonment issues. Well, Sam sighed, looks like she was going to do the stupid thing and stay there and talk because she wasn’t going to leave just because her soulmate apparently had a hard core ‘Indiana Jones’ side to her. Although, investing in an Indiana Jones costume was definitely an idea now that it crossed her mind.

____________________________________________________________________________

Lara was feeling happy for the first time since Yamati. After the first night, she expected to never see Sam again, but Sam hadn’t left. She hadn’t slept over again, and she’d bought her a gun box and looked at her quite pointedly till she put her gun in it. Still, Sam and her had coffee together, went to the movies, and rock climbed at the gym. It was like a dream, she felt as close to normal as it was possible for her to be and as a result she felt like she was floating. She’d decided to bring Sam some coffee since she knew her break was starting soon. 

She didn’t know what she’d done to deserve someone as amazing as Sam but she was going to try her best not to mess up what they had. Carrying the coffee, with extra caramel, she slipped into the History Channel office building Sam worked in with ease. If she subconsciously avoided notice by security and the secretary at the front desk, well she still wasn’t normal as much as Sam made her feel closer to that. 

She was making her way to the break room Sam had told her about during one of their talks. If she’d looked up the blueprints of the building before coming here well, it was understandable. As she approached, she heard voices and paused to listen, her instincts perking up on alert. She heard Sam’s voice and the voice of what sounded like a middle-aged man. 

“I’m not going to do it Mr. Albright, ask one of the others I’m sure they’d love the opportunity.” Sam said, her annoyance clear in her voice. 

“I’m not asking you, I’m ordering you. You have the unique opportunity to get an interview with one of the most infamous archaeologists of our era.” His voice was firm and passionate. 

“Just because I have her cell number doesn’t mean she’d give an interview even if I asked, and I’m not going to ask.” 

“If you want to keep your job, you will.” The man insisted. 

An indignant sound of something close to fury came from Sam’s throat. “You can’t break my contract over refusal to give you access to someone. It breaks several laws. If you think I wouldn’t sue you over wrongful dismissal you have another thing coming. Sir.” The sheer sarcasm and venom imbued into that single ‘Sir’ was remarkable really. 

Lara watched as a furious man in a suit came storming out of the room and down the hall. Wincing guiltily, she stepped into the break room where Sam was standing with smoke metaphorically coming from her ears. Holding up the coffees in her hand, Lara smiled slightly. “Hey.” 

“Lara!” Sam’s face broke into a smile as she stepped forward hugging her tightly. 

She smiled as she held up the coffees defensively to keep them from spilling as she felt the frighteningly familiar sensation of Sam hugging her. “I was in the area and thought you could use a pick me up.” 

Sam pulled back, taking the paper cup Lara was pushing towards her. She breathed in the scent her eyes closing happily. “You’re amazing.” 

Lara pulled her now free hand back and rubbed at the back of her head with a bit of a jerk. “Well, I just wanted to… I’m not good at this.” 

“You’re doing fine sweetie.” Sam smiled with a twinkle in her eye. “It’s cute that you think you need to bribe me with coffee.” She pulled the coffee back towards her though. “Not that this means you should stop.” 

Her face pulled up in a smile. She knew she was broken. She even knew that underneath all the issues she still had that she still longed for adventure, to return to the field. Despite all that, she thought she could make Sam happy, and that mattered in all the best ways. Her smile dimmed somewhat as she recalled the conversation she’d overheard. “Thank you for sticking up for me.” 

Sam’s irritation seemed to return. “Don’t you dare feel bad about it. That man is a jerk and he should go suck his own dick.” She took a sip of her coffee and hummed happily under her breath. “I’m not going to get in trouble for not taking advantage of the fact I know you. If he pushes enough well, the laws on exploiting soulmates are kinda clear. He’d get his ass handed to him if he tried.” Nodding her head in certainty of this outcome, Sam smirked up at her. 

Lara swallowed and felt her smile returning. She considered the phone call she’d gotten the day before and found herself opening her mouth. “I can’t give an interview, not really. You know why I can’t.” She wiggled her hand at the idea of summing up the idea of Yamati. “However, the other archeologists on the dig have been asking me to head back. You know, to help organize the different sites across the island.” 

“You’re going to go aren’t you?” Sam blew out a breath. “Should have known you’d get itchy feet sticking round here. You better keep in touch though you hear?” 

“That’s… no.” Lara shook her head slightly. “I need to go but… Think your boss would let you come with me?” 

Sam’s mouth opened for a moment silently before she seemed to find words. “Are you asking me on an adventure with you?” 

Lara felt herself shuffling slightly. She was so much better at adventure and doing things. This awkward easing into… whatever they were exactly to each other was wildly out of her comfort zone. “Yeah, I mean only for a few months. Then, I had some leads on Atlantis I wanted to chase down. If you’d like to come, I’d like that. Also, well I’ve been told I’m bad at sharing my finds.” 

Sam’s face looked like the sun break from behind the clouds. Her smile was stretching her mouth wide, white teeth sparkling. “You’ve gotta be kidding! I’ve wanted to film something interesting since I was in high school! Of course, I’ll come! You, adventure! What’s not to love!?”


End file.
